Just before the purdah door closed, Steve Reed published the Government’s decision on the future of the four council areas in the priority phase (though apparently we will have to wait with bated breath for the Sussex outcome, as there are issues with what’s currently on the table).
The headlines are:
Essex – to be split into five
Hampshire and Isle of Wight – to be split into five
Norfolk – to be split into three
Suffolk – to be split into three
The first thing that strikes you is that all of these new councils fail the Government’s previous rule (guidance) that new authorities need to have a population of 500k plus. This was seen as a big win for the County Councils Network when it was announced, but clearly has been overridden by local politics.
And that’s the second thing that strikes you. Nearly all the proposals that won through were backed by local Labour run councils and Labour MPs. Indeed, the Labour MPs who were apparently briefed ahead of the announcement last night were all very happy with the outcome.
This will clearly irk the current Conservative leadership in these councils, though many of their district party colleagues were backing the small unitary approach.
However, the real fly in the ointment could be the fact that all these council areas are having elections in six weeks’ time – where Reform is expected to do well and potentially replace the current Conservative leadership in at least three of the county areas.
And their view of all of this? Well, our understanding is that Farage and his insurgent party are planning to take on the Government if they win and fight against the breaking up of England’s historic counties. If true – this is far from finished and has the ring of the ill-fated 2009 proposals for Suffolk!
Is history about to repeat itself? Whatever happens next, you get the impression this is far from over.